It’s been a rough couple weeks for the Saskatchewan Roughriders who’ve been tsunami’d with a wave of bad publicity leading into each of their back-to-back games with the Toronto Argonauts.
Head coach Craig Dickenson was defensive for more than a week when answering questions about Garrett Marino’s low hit on Jeremiah Masoli and Duke Williams throwing a helmet at Shaq Richardson, but now the Riders are starting to fire back.
After serving his one-game suspension for his pregame antics at Touchdown Atlantic, Williams addressed the allegations levied at him by the Argonauts head on. Williams swears he did not spit on Richardson, contrary to what Toronto head coach Ryan Dinwiddie has been saying.
“If you’re not a dog and you’re weak, you make up excuses — that’s what you do. That’s what [Richardson] did. He made up an excuse because I dogged him out,” Williams said.
“He made up an excuse. I ain’t spit on nobody and that’s what it is.”
When asked by Regina Leader-Post reporter Murray McCormick if being accused of spitting on someone is as low as it gets in the CFL, Williams replied simply: “Yeah, I guess so.”
Despite his spitting denial, Williams did offer an apology to the Riders along with green and white fans for his actions in Nova Scotia.
“I apologize to Rider Nation,” Williams said. “I apologize to my teammates, the fans. I got out of character — it won’t happen again. That’s all I apologize for.”
The 29-year-old Williams swears he is bound and determined to put this all behind him, especially after watching the Riders lose 31-21 to the Argos from the sidelines at Mosaic Stadium in Week 7.
“It’s tough anytime you have to sit out and leave your brothers out there on the field for something selfish you did. I soaked it up, took it to the chin and I’m looking forward to getting us back on track against B.C. this week,” Williams said.
“That’s the past. I’m focused on this week against B.C., so I’ll leave that in the past. I don’t really have too much to say about that. I’ve served a suspension, took a fine and now I’m putting that behind me.”
Whether the six-foot-three, 225-pounder spat or not, the Riders will be thrilled to have Williams back after limited production from the receiving group in the game he sat out due to supplemental discipline handed out by the league office.
